How this blog came about

Normally I am not one to spend time blogging or doing stuff on electronic devices. I'm more of an outdoor person and prefer getting dirty in the garden. But I had an experience recently that led to my starting this blog. Actually, this started about 15 years ago when I was commuting 45 minutes to work and would fill up the commute time with listening to the radio. At one point back then I felt a "conviction" that I needed to turn off the radio and give God a chance to speak into the quietness. I discovered then, and in the intervening years, that this was not an easy thing to do (as my inability to do this consistently will atest). But I have come to believe that God will only give His wisdom to those who will treasure it enough to give Him the time of day.

Last Friday, after sensing again the nudge to turn off the radio (at work where I'm usually alone and can easily get bored with my work), I committed myself - this time with an increased sense of urgency - to working in the quiet to allow God to speak into my quietness. Along with this personal commitment I also sensed that I should start this blog as a challenge to others. I want this to be a place where we can share what happens when we honor God in this way, thus mutually encouraging one another.

My goal in this is NOT to stir up a lot of spiritual, religious talk with everyone giving their two cents worth about what they think revival or spiritual awakenings are or should be. Frankly, I am fed up with talk. There is way too much talk. What I'm looking for is life, reality - specifically, God's life and His reality. There is a lot out there pretending to be God's reality and we're all guilty of confusing what is and what isn't of God. I'm not going to be the arbiter of what is and what isn't. We'll just have to trust God to give us the wisdom to sort it all out, as well as that "love [that] covers a multitude of sins".

What I DO want to do is challenge us all to begin tuning out those things in our life that are distracting and hindering us from being able to hear and receive what God wants to say and do in our lives. For me it is starting with something as simple as turning the radio off at work and allowing the quiet that results to be an opportunity for listening to the voice of God. For others it may be something totally different. The details of how you do it doesn't matter. What matters is that we're serious enough about getting to know God better that we are willing to change something in our lifestyle that will make it easier for God to speak into our lives. Personally, I feel like I am starving for the reality of God, even in the midst of a society that is filled with opportunities to hear talk about God. As we share our stories with each other, may we be like coals that, when brought together with others and blown on by the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) the warmth and light of Messiah will increase . ..

"Awake, O sleeper,
Rise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light!"

- from a first century church hymn, quoted by Paul in Ephesians 5:17